Night shot of United Artists Theatre, 606 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, California, circa 1931

Night shot of United Artists Theatre, 606 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, California, circa 1931To my mind, at least, there’s always something rather mesmerizing about a photo of a well-lit theater at night. It’s not just about the lights, but the shadows they create. It gives the image a sense of texture. This is the United Artists Theatre at 606 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, in 1931. Playing at the time was Fox feature called “The Yellow Ticket” starring Lionel Barrymore. Interestingly, it also starred Laurence Olivier in one of his first film roles. I didn’t know he was in Hollywood that early in his career.

The good news is that the building is still there and in glorious condition. It is currently a Sweetgreen restaurant. This image is from June 2022.

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Edward L. Doheny mansion, 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles (undated)

Edward L. Doheny mansion, 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles (undated)When your name is Edward L. Doheny and you’re the guy who struck oil in 1892 and kicked off the Southern California oil boom, you get to buy any mansion you like. So you buy the one at 10 Chester Place, one of the first gated communities in Los Angeles, which is south of downtown and north of the USC campus. I don’t have a date for this photo, but the place was built in 1899 and Doheny bought it in 1901, so I’m guessing it was taken around then. In a way, it doesn’t matter because the place is gloriously intact. After all, Romantic Revival combined with Gothic, Chateauesque, Moorish and California Mission never goes out of style.

This is a Google Earth image showing what the mansion currently looks like. I love the red-tiled roof!

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Color photo of a parade through the streets of Burbank, California, circa late 1940s

Color photo of a parade through the streets of Burbank, California, circa late 1940sI don’t have a lot of information on this photo other than it was a parade of some sort through the streets of Burbank. That Studebaker truck on the left didn’t change between 1941 and 1948, so we can’t use it to nail down a date. My guess is that this parade took place on San Fernando Rd, and that it was circa late 1940s, maybe early 1950s. I don’t know what sort of airplane that is, but it sure looks slick. Perhaps an aircraft enthusiast can identify it for us.

** UPDATES **

The Kodachrome photo was taken at the corner of San Fernando and Verdugo in 1950. Below is the reverse view looking toward the intersection with Ralphs on the right:

San Fernando Road and Verdugo Burbank, reverse view looking toward the intersection with Ralphs on the right

Casey W: “Looks to me like the plane is an Ercoupe 415, which was first made in 1940.”

Ian S: “The airplane is an ERCO Ercoupe.”

Dan R: “The Ercoupe was designed as a safer way to fly. The rudders and ailerons were interconnected and the elevator was restricted to prevent a stall. They even sold some in retail stores.”

Shawn B. “The Ercoupe has a paint scheme/logo that indicates that it’s a 1945-1950 415-C model, although with the heavy-duty front gear on it, it could be as new as 1949; in 1950 Saunders Aviation bought out ERCO, and the new paint scheme generally included a stripe from the logo on the cowl all the way down the fuselage.”

The Burbank Furniture Co. was located at S. San Fernando at Angeleno. It appears to have closed prior to 1953. It is possible this was a plane model built for Burbank on Parade in May 1947.

 

 

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The Pantages Theatre (later Warner Bros.) at the corner of Hill and 7th Streets, downtown Los Angeles, 1926

The Pantages Theatre (later Warner Bros.) at the corner of Hill and 7th Streets, downtown Los Angeles, 1926Until I came across this photo, I had always thought (well, assumed) that the grand theater on the corner of Hill and 7th Streets in downtown Los Angeles had always belonged to Warner Bros. So I was surprised to learn that it was a Pantages vaudeville house from 1920 to 1929, when Warners acquired it. This photo is from 1926, when the Ritz Brothers were appearing in a live show called “Putting on the Ritz” as a support feature for the movie “Marriage License?” This was a full ten years before they made their first feature picture, “Sing, Baby, Sing” for 20th Century-Fox. (Note the horse-drawn delivery van in the bottom right corner.)

This is how the building looked in January 2022. It’s now home to a jewelry store, but hey, at least it’s still there.

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An ivy-covered Los Angeles County Courthouse glimpsed at the corner of Temple St and Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1930

Axn ivy-covered Los Angeles County Courthouse glimpsed at the corner of Temple St and Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1930I know that progress marches ever forward, and populations grow, and cities need to expand upward as well as outward, but wouldn’t it be nice if some of the more charming buildings could have been saved? The beautiful ivy-covered building on the far right served as the old Los Angeles Courthouse, which stood at the intersection of Temple St and Broadway. This photo is circa 1930, so with the new City Hall which opened in 1928 and which we can see in the background existed together for at least a couple of years. Thank heavens for photos, right?

And this is how that intersection looked in June 2022:

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A view of the Los Angeles Civic Center as seen from the Hollywood Freeway, Los Angeles, circa early 1950s

A view of the Los Angeles Civic Center as seen from the Hollywood Freeway, Los Angeles, circa early 1950sThis is how the uncrowded Los Angeles Civic Center used to look like from the Hollywood Freeway. That slick two-toned Buick is from 1949, so I’m guessing this photo (it looks like it may have been a postcard) is circa early 1950s, in which case the freeway was still fairly new, which might explain why the traffic is still light. In fact, I wonder if the Buick might have belonged to the photographer, who jumped out of his car when he saw what a picture postcard perfect view lay in front of him.

This is how that view looked in June 2022:

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Color photo of the Angels Flight funicular and Third St tunnel, downtown Los Angeles, circa mid-1960s

Color photo of the Angels Flight funicular and Third St tunnel, downtown Los Angeles, circa mid-1960sMost photos of the Angels Flight funicular at its original Third St location show it surrounded by buildings and traffic and people. So it’s weird to see it sitting on its lonesome with nothing much around it. Judging by the 1965 Chevrolet driving along Hill St, this photo was taken during the mid-1960s, when most of Bunker Hill was being cleared for redevelopment. Angels Flight closed (at that location) in 1969, so this is what it looked like during its last years. Look at that line of people waiting to ride it up the hill. I’m glad to see it was still in demand.

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Interior view of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, 6433 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood

Interior view of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, 6433 Hollywood Blvd, HollywoodI’ve lived in Los Angeles since the mid-1990s and during that whole time, the Hollywood Pacific Theatre at 6433 Hollywood Blvd has been closed down and boarded up. I’ve never even seen the lobby, let alone the auditorium. So coming across this photo was a real find. Get a load of all that intricate decoration above the tall arches on the second floor. No wonder it used to be one of Warner Bros. flagship theaters in LA.

To see more interior photos go here.

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Looking toward downtown Los Angeles the night of New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1951

<<< 10th ANNIVERSARY POSTING >>>

Looking toward downtown Los Angeles the night of New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1951Aside from the odd vacation, every day for the past 10 years, I have posted a vintage photo of Los Angeles. Today’s post is a very special one as it marks the 10th anniversary of the first time I did that. On November 8, 2012, I posted this photo (you can see it here) with the simple caption: “Los Angeles, New Year’s Eve. December 31, 1951” I gave no commentary, no context, no history, so let’s fix that. Here’s what I would say about this photo if today were the first time I posted it:

The lights of Los Angeles glow in the night sky as the city sees in the new year on December 31, 1951. These days, Los Angeles City Hall is dwarfed by nearby skyscrapers, but back when this photo was taken, it was—by law—the tallest building in LA. And it really shows in this photo where it’s all lit up. Even the Lindbergh Beacon at the very top was shining that night.

By the way, if you’d like to explore the early photos I posted, you can go here and click on the link at the top right hand corner to see each of the previous 3,350 photos I’ve come across during my excursions researching for my historical novels that take place during the Hollywood studio system.

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Various stores fill the interesting Martz Flats building at 7th and Flower Sts, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1950

Various stores fill the interesting Martz Flats building at 7th and Flower Sts, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1950The building shown here in this circa 1950 photo was known as the Martz Flats building—a rather odd name for a rather lovely building. It housed small independent stores like woman’s fashions and embroidery services. These days, of course, downtown LA is filled skyscrapers and parking lots, but wouldn’t it have been nice if a few of these quirky buildings could have been saved to keep the cityscape down to a more human level?

The Martz Flats was built by Henry Martz in 1890. It was demolished in the late 1960s to make room for a 30 story building and parking lot. Here’s a photo from 1965:

Martz Flats building at 7th and Flower Sts, downtown Los Angeles, 1965

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